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Some Forgotten 
Pennsylvania Heroines 



An Address By 

Henry W. Shoemaker 

At meeting of 

Bellefonte Chapter . 

Daughters of the American Revolution 

Bellefonte. Pa., May 6, 1922 




Altoona 
Published by Times Tribune Co., 1922 



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Some Forgotten Pennsylvania Heroines 

Mrs. Richard, and Ladies of Bellefonte Chapter. D. A. R. 

Some months ago, in the daily newspapers, a tlispatch dated 
Washington, D. C, propounded this question : "Who were the 
greatest women in the past history of Pennsylvania ?" Without 
waiting for the readers of the article to offer suggestions, the 
following names were mentioned : Betsey Ross, Rebecca Biddle, 
Lydia Darrah, and Lucretia Mott. It would seem a pity if this 
quartet should be regarded as the tinal estimate of greatness in 
Pennsylvania womanhood, despite the years of persistent pro- 
paganda at work in favor of some of them. In the first place 
the genuineness of Betsey Ross's connection other than profes- 
sional with the first American Flag has been frequently ques- 
tioned, and were it not for her social connections her claims 
would probably be entirely outlawed ; the same is the case with 
Rebecca Biddle and Lydia Darrah. In this present age we are 
too prone to estimate a person's greatness on the basis of wealth 
and social position. If a wealthy woman delivers a speech, 
writes a few paragraphs, makes a donation to charity, she is ac- 
corded an exalted place in a sycophantic world. A woman's 
social position cannot be judged by her occupation ; a servant 
girl may come of au aristocratic family, and a millionaire's wife, 
a common vulgarian. It is women like Lucretia Mott, who have 
triumphed over life's obstacles, or broken the bonds of caste, and 
done something uplifting and permanently worth while who will 
ultimately be classed as the greatest of Pennsylvania women. 
Lucretia Alott, preacher, teacher and reformer, is too widely 
known to need further mention here, but there are many other 
Pennsylvania women, some scarcely mentioned in history's pages, 
who should be re-discovered. It may some day be a part of the 
unselfish labors of the D. A. R. to establish them in their proper 
places among Pennsylvania heroines. In point of fame which 
transcends the borders of the State, like in the case of Lucretia 
Mott, we must not fail to mention Mary Jemison. known as the 
"White Woman of the Genessec." In beautifid Letchworth 
Park, near Rochester, New York, a handsome bronze statue, on 
a granite pedestal, testifies the high regard in wh.ich this remark- 



able Pennsylvania woman is held b}' the people of the Empire 
v^tate. As a cliild, in IT.")"), Mary Jemison was captured bv In- 
dians at her parents' home on Marsh Creek, Franklin Countv. 
and taken to Ohio. Later after the fall of Fort Duquesne, she 
was given the chance to return to her family, but refused, pre- 
ferring the society of the Indians. She first married a warrior 
named Sheningey, and after his death became the wife of Ilia- 
katoo, commonly known as Gardeau, a fighting Indian whose 
name is not remembered in a kindly manner by residents of the 
West JJranch X'alley. Mis part in the ^tomahawking of the 
wounded at Fort Freeland, near Milton in 1779, gave him an 
unenviable reputation, but as to the merits of the case the loyal 
"White Woman of the Genessee" is silent. As the wife of 
lliakatoo, Mary Jemison became the mother of a large family, 
who inherited a sort of Kingship or overlordshi]) of the Senecas 
in W'estern New York State, 'i'he last "King" Jemison died sev- 
eral years ago near Red Mouse, on the Alleghenv River; in his 
lifetime he sold patent medicines in Pittsburg, and exhibited 
a unique collection of Indian relics, including the silver war 
crowns of Chiefs Cornplanter, Blacksnake, and Red Jacket. 
Mary Jemison is principally remembered by her book of memoirs 
wdiich she dictated to' James E. Seaver, an historian, shortly be- 
fore her death, and which gives a vivid picture of Indian war- 
fare and pioneer conditions during her long life. Mer infiuence 
on the Indians was beneficent, and her aim was always to bring 
the two races together in friendly intercourse, her feeling being 
that, of the two, the Indians were the least savage and war- 
like. Eastern Pennsylvania can claim another equally pictures- 
"qtie Indian captive in Regina Hartman, yet her unmarked last 
.resting place in Tulpehoc^ken Churchyard, near Stouchsburg, 
Berks County, is known only to a few, among them Dr. W'alker 
L. Stephen, of Reading, the best-posted Indian folk-lorist in 
Pennsylvania. If Regina Martman had lived in New England 
or Europe she would rank as one of the great historical person- 
ages of all time, yet Pennsylvania claims only a mild acquaint- 
ance with her. For the benefit of those present who have not 
heard of her strange story, we will summarize it brieflv. Dur- 
ing an Indian attack along the Blue Mountains, in the vicinity 
of the present Town of Orwigsburg, Regina, then nine years of 
age, was carried into captivity by the Indians, and for seven 
years was taken from place to place by her -.aptors. \t last. 



after the final peace of the French and Indian War, in 1TG3, 
wlien AJary jemison elected to remain with the Indians, a great 
army of white prisoners were turned over to the British Colonial 
forces, and sent east to Carlisle Barracks, to be restored to their 
relatives. Regina Hartman's mother journeyed to Carlisle, but 
out of the long line of sunburned children who were marched 
past her could not recognize her long lost daughter. The un- 
happy woman in bitter disappointment after her long trip, broke 
down and wept. Her grief attracted the attention of Colonel 
Henry Bouquet, the brave deliverer of Fort Duquesne, a 
Huguenot from Switzerland, who was in charge of the released 
captives, and addressing her in Pennsylvania German, he asked 
if there was any song that she used to sing to her missing daugh- 
ter in the old childhood days. The poor woman recollected one 
particular hymn, and going along the lines of refugees started 
to sing: 

"Allein, and doch nicht ganz allein 

Bin ich"— — 
It was there that a tall girl sprang from the crowd, and fell 
into her mother's arms. The reunion was complete and Regina 
spent the remainder of her life ministering to her mother's com- 
fort at their humble home in Northern Berks County. After lier 
mother's death she lived alone, becoming known locally as a 
saint, through manifold deeds of goodness and charity. Now 
she rests in an unmarked grave, and later historians have at- 
tempted to class her as a myth, alongside of "Alolly Pitcher," 
who luckily has been rescued from such obloquy by the prompt 
action of the Pennsylvania Legislature and Governor Brum- 
baugh. In 1!)1(), when the handsome bronze monument to Mary 
Ludwig, known as "Molly Pitcher," a real daughter of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, was unveiled in the old Cemetery at Carlisle, her 
identity was made sure by the engraving of all her names, and 
her sobriquet, on the front of the granite pedestal, so that she 
may rank for all time as one of the greatest of Pennsylvania 
heroines. Mary Ludwig, known as "Molly with the Pitcher" 
and "Molly Pitcher," was born in the Palatinate, but brought as 
a small child by her parents to Berks County; later they moved 
to the Cumberland Valley, where Mary became a servant in the 
home of Colonel William Irvine. At the time of the Revolution 
she was the wife of Sergeant Casper Hays; at the battle of Mon- 
mouth, when her husband, a cannoneer was wounded she success- 



fully took charge of the cannon ; and later when relieved car- 
ried water to the soldiers under fire. It is said that General 
Washington was an observer of her bravery, and made her a 
sergeant by brevet. In the battle, one of her former admirers. 
a man of wealth and ])osition, was given up for dead, and tossed 
into a trench for burial the next morning. Despite the fatigues 
of the day, Molly crept out at dead of night, and carried him 
back to 'the lines, and helped to nurse him back to health. After 
the war she returned to Carlisle, where Sergeant Hays died ; 
later she married Sergeant Jerry McCaniey, a semi-invalid from 
shell shock. In her later years she scrubbed the marble floors 
of the Court House at Carlisle, unable to support her helpless 
husband and children on a {tension of $40.00 per year. For 
further information concerning this remarkable woman see the 
article by Rev. C. P. \\ ing, in "Pennsylvania Magazine," 1871). 
X'olume III, and judge E. W. Biddle's scholarly address deliv- 
ered at the time of the dedication of the monument. Among 
the lesser known Pennsylvania heroines, Somerset County is 
justly proud of Peggy Marteeny, the daughter of Henry Mar- 
teeny, an old soldier of the Revolution, of Huguenot antecedents. 
During an attack by Indians along the old Forbes Road, Peggy 
was riding her spotted Spanish pony through the woods when 
she came upon a white man, badly wounded, and badly frigh- 
tened, running for dear life, closely pursued by redmen, who 
were brandishing scalping knives. Without a moment's hesita- 
tion Peggy sprang from her horse, and put the white man on it. 
then giving it a few smacks across the flanks, sent the animal 
galloping away, trusting to her own long legs to escape the sav- 
age pursuers. vSomerset County was also the home of Rebecca 
/ Statler and Rhoda Boyd, heroines of Indian adventures. Near 
"Molly Pitcher's" handsome moniment in the ancient Cemetery at 
Carlisle, are the graves of Hugh H. Prackenridge, the disting- 
uished Pittsburg Jurist, and author of that amusing work "Mod- 
ern Chivalry." a story much on the style of "Don Quixote" — and 
his wife, formerly the Pennsylvania German girl Sabina Wolfe. 
{ )n one of Judge Brackenridge's horeback journeys through the 
mountains he noticed the graceful Sabina nimbly vaulting over a 
stake and rider fence, and fell in love with her on the spot ; athe- 
letic prowess still seems to be a compelling motive in the awak- 
ening of love, for we have recently read in the papers of a 
wealthy western youth who eloped with a show girl, who he said 



he fell in love with after she had won a race on a Pogo stick at 
the Midnight Follies. The Brackenridge-Wolfe marriage turned 
out very well, so much so that the unknown Sabina soon became 
the social arbiter of the Smoky City. Pennsylvania Mountain 
^irls are noted not only for their beauty, but for their courage. 
Kentucky accords a high place in liistory to the small dark girl, 
.Mabel Hite, whose forbears went from Berks County to the 
"Dark and Bloody Ground" for her heroism in carrying water 
under a heavy tire from hostile Indians to the brave defenders of 
the Fort at Bryant's Station, w ho were an earlier "Lost Battalion" 
and might have perished of thirst but for the intrepid bravery 
of this young Pennsylvania girl. Barbara jFrietchie, who some 
historians say was a myth, but will ever be immortalized in Whit- 
tier's stirring poem, was born in Pennsylvania, but was taken to 
Frederick. Maryland, by her parents at an early age. Your 
speaker once asked General Henry Kyd Douglas of Hagerstown, 
who was an Aide to General "Stonewall" Jackson during his 
famous rule through Frederick Town, if Barbara Frietchie really 
lived. The old General replied that he knew Barbara well, that 
she was no myth, the only mythical part was that the flag which 
she hung out was the stars and bars, and not the stars and stripes. 
Perhaps in the excess of his Southern sympathies, this gallant 
old Confederate may have been temporarily color blind. An- 
other celebrated frontier girl was Frances Slocum, the Indian 
captive of the Wyoming Valley, whose memory is splendidly per- 
petuated by the .able historians of the North Branch Valley; then 
there is Elizabeth Zane, the early love of Daniel Boone, a Penn- 
sylvania frontier girl whose life was full of stirring adventures, 
and whose relatives were the founders of Zanesville, Ohio; there 
is Jennie Wade, the unhappy heroine of the Battle of Gettysburg, 
shot while baking bread the same day that her lover was killed 
in battle, and .[ane Annesley, the beautiful red headed girl of the 
West Branch Valley, whose auburn tresses were coveted by the 
warlike Indian Skanando, and who followed her until he scalped 
her. vShe survived the scalping maiiy years, being still remem- 
bered by older residents about Lock ' Haven as an aged woman 
hoeing corn, wearing a black scull cap. And we must not forget to 
mention Genevieve Loverhill, the intrei)id girl scout and scalp 
hunter, also of the West Brandy Valley. The mother of the im- 
mortal Al)raham Lincoln, plain Nancy Manks, was of Pensyl- 
vania origin, like licr husljund Thomas Lincoln. \\y a strange 



coincidence the early homes of tlie Lincoln, Hanks, and Uoone 
families were close together in Eastern r»erks County. Mont- 
gomery, Chester, and Berks County have vied with one another 
as the early home of the Hanks family, but Rev. j. W. Early, a 
venerable clergyman of Reatling, writing on the U)(*th amiiver- 
sary of *" Father Abraham's"" I'.irth, in 1!)0!», in the Reading Times, 
stated that the family originated in Berks County, and the early 
spelling of the name was Hanck, whereas in Chester County there 
is a familv called llanke, possibly of a different stock. Nancy 
Hanks, the typical ])ioneer mother, occui)ies an outstanding place 
in tlie Nati()n"s history, and we can feel closer to her, and her 
ideals, by reckoning her as one of our Pennsylvania women. Dr. 
Stephen, before mentioned, tells us that Jane Borthwick, to whom 
Robert Burns, in his youth, dedicated several lovely poems, and 
who later emigrated to Pennsylvania, is buried in Womelsdorf, 
Berks County. We cannot close this rambling discourse without 
mentioning a little known Centre County heroine, Mary Wolford. 
for whom Young Woman's Town, now ruthlessly re-named 
North l)end, and Yotmg Woman's Creek, now ruthlessly pol- 
luted by tanneries, are named. While encamped with her i)ar- 
ents, formerly from Buffalo \'aUey, near the great hollow Init- 
tonwood tree, below Milesburg, where the spartan Indian chief 
Woapalannee, or Bald Eagle, is said to have slept standing up. 
this tierce w^arrior fell in love with the tall, slim and beautiful 
pioneer girl. She was indift'erent to his advances, being engaged 
to James Ouigley lirady, the "Young Captain of the Susque- 
hanna," a younger brother of the famous Captain "Sam"" ISrady. 
Bald Eagle managed to have the "Young Captain'" scalped, which 
caused his death, and later captured Mary Wolford, and started 
North with her, towards the old Boone Road, leading to New 
York State. Somewhere, beyond the creek, which now bears 
her name, the lovely Mary broke loose from her captors, although 
a wooden gag was in her mouth, and her hands were tied behind 
her back. Boldly she plunged into the stream, which was swollen 
bv a flood ; gagged and lier arms hel]dess, she was carried off by 
the swift current and drowned. Days afterwards her body was 
washed ashore at Northumberland, near where young Brady was 
buried, and the lovers sleep their long sleep side by side. There 
are manv more forgotten Pennsylvania heroines, but the list just 
given will suffice for the present. If we can honor these, as are 
their due. we will have enhanced the cause of Pennsylvania his- 



tory and helped to place it alongside that of New York. New- 
England, the South, and other sections where deeds of worth and 
valor are recognized. All of these forgotten women were Ijrave, 
courageous, simple and God fearing, well wortliy to serve as a 
high ideal for our young girlhood. They also show that the 
noblest traits are found in the humblest homes, that womanhood 
can be brave and intrepid just as much as man. that tliere are 
self-made women as well as self-made men. Some dav let us 
hope that in the rotunda of the Capitol at Harrisburg, purged of 
its group of professional politician statues, or some Hall of Fame 
specially constructed for the purpose, we can gaze upon lifelike 
effigies in marble of Lucretia Mott, Mary Jemison, Regina Hart- ^/ 
man, Molly Pitcher, Peggy Marteeny, Mabel Hite, Frances 
Slocum, Mary Wolford, and above all Nancy Hanks, typical of 
the most exalted heights to which womanhood can attain, unaided, 
many of them untaught, but pure in patriotism, pure in heart, the 
bright galaxy of the glory of Pennsylvania womanhood. We 
cannot honor them too highly, we cannot praise them extrava- 
gantly enough, for they are milestones in the normal development 
of our feminism. This great work is going on. That women of 
equal worth are heing born under similar conditions and are alive 
today, let us but remember that jan e Add ams, the daughter of a 
Berks County innkeeper, has done more for lier sex. and for 
humanity in general than almost any other woman living, and 
carries out fullv the loftly standard that Pennsylvania sets for 
its womanhood. 




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